The “women” in question were between the ages of 14 and 17 when West approached them at a youth environmental conference. According to their uncontradicted account of the incident, they were playing with facepaint when a nude, erection-wielding West demanded that he be allowed to join in the fun. Contemporary newspaper accounts reported that the girls suffered crying fits and some nearly vomited. A dozen of the girls, now women, have come forward with their account because they regret having been shamed into not pressing charges (by male authority figures) and do not want to leave the impression that West is fit for a position of public responsibility.